


Sick Days

by Anthemyst



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Gabenath Server Exchange 2019, Mild Hurt/Comfort, sick nathalie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:46:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21586000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthemyst/pseuds/Anthemyst
Summary: Nathalie can't stop now, no matter what a fussing kwami or a worried boss might think.
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 5
Kudos: 117





	Sick Days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NotGarfield](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotGarfield/gifts).



_“Miss Nathalie? Where is...why…”_

_“There’s no time for that, Gabriel’s in trouble. Duusu, fan my feathers!”_

* * *

Nathalie watched patiently as her new roommate phased through her kitchen, not bothering to open any doors as she inspected everything. “Potato chips!” Nathalie finally heard Duusu exclaim, from deep within one of the upper right cabinets. “Miss Emilie never had potato chips!”

“I don’t have time to cook fresh, healthy meals and I can’t afford a chef like Emilie could,” Nathalie said defensively. “Mr. Agreste keeps offering to have their chef send meals home with me, but… oh, I eat there most of the time as it is, it would be silly. Anyway, a potato chip never hurt anyone. Help yourself.” There was a large pop as Duusu opened the bag, then a steady crunching, munching noise that went on for ages. Duusu didn’t reappear until she heard Nathalie cough.

“Miss Nathalie!” Duusu rematerialized in an instant. “You’re not well, you should lie down.”

“I’m fine,” Nathalie insisted. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s my Miraculous,” Duusu said sadly. “You never should have used it.”

Nathalie bristled. “Mr. Agreste would have been captured. All hope of saving Emilie would be lost. You want to save Emilie, don’t you?”

“Of course! I love Miss Emilie! But-”

“That’s all there is to it, then,” Nathalie said decisively. “I did what I had to do. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on taking any unnecessary risks.”

* * *

_“Oh, Miss Nathalie, you said you’d only-”_

_“He needs me. Duusu, fan my feathers!”_

* * *

Nathalie watched, almost unable to believe her eyes, as Duusu single-handedly prepared a hot cup of tea. “You look ridiculous holding that,” Nathalie told her kwami. “Floating in midair holding a mug ten times your size.” She took a sip. “This is very good,” she admitted.

“What was the big risk today?” Duusu demanded. “Mr. Agreste wasn’t on the field! Today wasn’t anything like the first time!”

Nathalie sighed and curled her fingers around her mug, basking in its warmth for a moment while she collected her thoughts. “He just needs a little help,” she said. “Just a nudge. He’s come so close before, if he had just the tiniest bit of help from me I know it would make a difference.”

“It didn’t make a difference today,” Duusu protested. “You’re sicker now, and for nothing.”

“Not for nothing,” Nathalie said, shaking her head. “Helping Mr. Agreste is never for nothing.”

* * *

_“No, Miss Nathalie, no, no, you promised, you said-”_

_“Duusu, fan my feathers!”_

* * *

Nathalie shivered under a pile of every blanket she owned. “Don’t look at me like that,” she muttered. “I’m sick, you have to be nice to me.”

“Oh, Miss Nathalie, you promised you wouldn’t again!” Duusu scolded.

“I don’t even think it’s your Miraculous,” Nathalie added, closing her eyes. “There’s a cold going around the apartment complex, the doorman said.”

Nathalie felt the weight on top of her increase ever so slightly, and she opened one eye a crack. Duusu had found Nathalie’s grandmother’s afghan, folded and stashed under her coffee table, and had spread the whole thing over Nathalie’s bed. “Do you do turn-down service?” Nathalie joked weakly.

“You promised!” Duusu repeated, evidently deciding that if Nathalie was well enough to tease her she was well enough to be lectured. “Mr. Agreste wasn’t in any danger today, just like he wasn’t in any danger the last time, or the time before that!”

“Every day he doesn’t succeed is a danger to us all, Duusu. And to Emilie. Didn’t you make a promise, too? To do whatever it takes to save her?”

Duusu’s large pink eyes filled with glistening diamond tears. “I loved Emilie,” she said. “I love you, too, Miss Nathalie.”

Nathalie sighed. “If we stop now, both Emilie and I are lost,” she said. “The only way through is forward. Gabriel… I mean, Mr. Agreste is losing without me.” Nathalie watched Duusu disappear from the room without responding, then closed her eyes once more.

Nathalie was half-asleep when the sound of her pots and pans banging around in her kitchen woke her up. “I didn’t realize you were a chef,” she muttered, before feeling a spoonful of hot soup pressed to her lips.

“I’m not,” Mr. Agreste’s voice replied. Nathalie opened her eyes, startled. “The chef gave me this to reheat for you, I merely turned the stove on.”

“Mr. Agreste! You don’t-you didn’t need to-I’m fine, I don’t…” Nathalie blinked, struggling to finish a sentence. “I’m surprised you know how to turn the stove on,” she finally said.

The corner of Mr. Agreste’s mouth picked up ever so slightly. “I may possibly be full of surprises,” he said wryly, “if the bar is as low as all that. Eat.” Nathalie obeyed wordlessly, accepting spoonful after spoonful from her employer. “You’re taking the week off,” he added firmly.

“Oh, that’s not-”

“And then you’re giving that Miraculous back,” he added, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I’ve let this go on far too long.”

Nathalie sighed and pulled herself up to a sitting position. “You’re not-” a coughing fit interrupted her, undermining her before she even began, “thinking clearly.”

Gabriel stared at her for a moment, then put the soup down and sat gingerly on the edge of her bed. “I wasn’t thinking clearly when I let you keep that thing,” he insisted. “I wasn’t thinking about what this would do to you, what this would cost. Nathalie, please.”

Nathalie shook her head. “You know as well as I do that stopping now wouldn’t save me,” she said matter-of-factly. “If you lose-”

“I won’t lose,” Gabriel interrupted harshly. “I will do whatever it takes to win.”

Nathalie smiled sadly. “You have to make up your mind, Sir,” she said. “Either you’re willing to pay any cost to win, or you aren’t.” Gabriel frowned and furrowed his brow, but said nothing. “And if you’re not willing to pay any cost, you’ll lose both of us. You know that.”

Gabriel gazed at Nathalie for a few seconds, then abruptly averted his gaze. “You should rest,” he said. “I need you at your best.”

Nathalie sank back into her pillows, relieved. “Yes, you do,” she agreed. “You’ll lose without me.” Sleep claimed her quickly, so quickly that Nathalie almost wasn’t sure if she heard Gabriel speak once more, or if she dreamed it.

“I am lost without you.”


End file.
